Publicity and Media Relations
The mission of the Boy Scouts of America, Alamo Area Council’s (BSA) Public Relations Office is to strengthen the public’s perception of the BSA as a forward-looking youth character development service center providing safe, time-tested programs focusing on values-based leadership training supported by family involvement. Scouting’s mission to prepare young people to make ethical choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law provides economic and social impact for the community.
The Public Relations (PR) Office is responsible for informing external audiences, through the media or by the multiple media platforms owned by the Alamo Area Council (website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+1), of the on-going policies and successful operations of the Council. This includes announcements of Scouting news and upcoming events associated with the Council, as well as responses to media inquiries. The Public Relations Office is also responsible for keeping internal audiences aware of newsworthy issues and events associated with the Council and the greater Scouting community.
One focus of this office is to devise and carry out PR programs that will gain wide and favorable interpretation of these Scouting policies and positive operations. The tools used to accomplish these tasks include press releases, feature stories, advertisements, website blogs, SEO (search engine optimization), video and photojournalism, press conferences, frequent contact with representatives of newspapers and magazines, radio and television stations, and the Internet.
The Public Relations Office is available to assist professional Scouting staff or volunteer Scouting leadership in publicity efforts. The office can also assist in arranging interviews and other contacts with the media. In general, the Scouting community is encouraged to use the resources of the Public Relations Office as much as possible; but this is not necessary so long as a Scouting member is speaking as a citizen and not as a spokesperson for the Council. The identification that one is a member of the Boy Scouts of America, Alamo Area Council does not make one a spokesperson for the Council. Each Scouting member is reminded that he/she has special obligations in communicating with the media as a citizen: to be accurate, to show respect for the opinions of others, and to make every effort to indicate that he/she is not an institutional spokesperson.
When a professional Scouting staff member is speaking as a spokesperson for the Council, all contact with the media should be directed through the Public Relations Office. All display advertising must go through the Public Relations Office. It is the Alamo Area Council’s policy that all media inquiries on Scouting activities must be reported to the Public Relations Office, who is solely responsible for preparing “official” local BSA responses.
Continued Statement on Scouting Community Media Engagement
“The Alamo Area Council followings policies and procedures as a unified Boy Scouts of America with a unified focus on youth,” said Michael de los Santos, Scout Executive/CEO, Boy Scouts of America, Alamo Area Council.
“We understand that people are passionate about a diversity of issues and about Scouting. We encourage the rights of citizen participation within the various local media channels, as all viewpoints are welcome, but Scouting community participation must be constructive and follow the Scout Oath and Law. A Scout is Courteous. The content of each media channel is the sole responsibility of the producer, owner, and/or user of that channel, and not that of the BSA,” said Angel Martinez, Communications/Marketing Director, Boy Scouts of America, Alamo Area Council.
Questions or concerns regarding the Boy Scouts of America, Alamo Area Council’s presence or mention in any media channel should be directed to the Council’s Communications / Marketing Director, Angel Martinez< by email at PR@AlamoAreaBSA.org.
www.AlamoAreaBSA.org/Marketing
PR-P2014